Sept. 1 (Bloomberg) -- News Corp.’s HarperCollins revealed
the identity of the “Stig,” a test driver who appears on the
television show “Top Gear,” after the British Broadcasting
Corp. lost a ruling to keep his identity secret.

The publisher said racing driver Ben Collins is the masked
man who tests the performance of cars on one of the U.K.’s most
popular television shows. The announcement came after High Court
Judge Paul Morgan in London refused a request from the BBC to
keep the character’s identity secret. HarperCollins plans to
publish the driver’s autobiography on Sept. 16.

“This is a victory for freedom of speech,” HarperCollins
said in an e-mailed statement. “Ben Collins has a great story
to tell about his seven years as The Stig which will appeal to a
wide audience beyond the world of motoring enthusiasts.”

“Top Gear” episodes in its latest series attracted an
average of 5.3 million viewers, a 20 percent share, according to
the BBC. In the show, the Stig wears white overalls and a white
helmet with a black visor that he always keeps down, obscuring
his face.

“It just shows that you have to have a real need to have
an injunction, rather than, ‘wouldn’t it be nice,’” said Duncan
Lamont, a media lawyer at Charles Russell in London who isn’t
involved with the case.

The BBC sued over the planned autobiography.

Andy Wilman, Top Gear’s producer, said after the hearing
that he was disappointed by the ruling.

‘Mystery’ of the Stig

“The ‘Top Gear’ audience has always made it clear that they
enjoy the mystery surrounding the identity of the Stig and the
BBC felt it important to do all it could to protect that
anonymity,” the BBC said in a statement. “Viewers of ‘Top Gear’
shouldn’t worry. The Stig lives on and will be back in the new
year.”

Lamont said in a telephone interview the BBC was
“optimistic” to seek an order banning publication of the name
when the “proper remedy” was a lawsuit seeking damages. If the
BBC does decide to sue Collins for breach of contract, it isn’t
clear they would win, Lamont said.

“Lots of people have confidentiality clauses in their
contracts that aren’t worth the paper they are written on,” he
said.